Key Takeaways
Read the letter sent by NCOA and the National Consumers League to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.
In the letter, NCOA and NCL stress the importance of offering Medicare beneficiaries "the same effective treatments for obesity as other individuals covered through federal health insurance programs."
Reasons to address inequitable coverage include advances in obesity treatment, including FDA-approved medications, and the fact that obesity disproportionately affects Black and Brown communities.
On Sept. 22, 2022, the National Consumers League (NCL) and NCOA sent a letter to Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The letter makes a strong case for updating obesity-related coverage for Medicare beneficiaries.
Specifically, the letter calls for helping to end the impasse on Medicare Part D coverage of anti-obesity medications that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And the letter offers NCL and NCOA help "to build momentum in Congress for statutory Medicare coverage" of obesity treatment.